I believe extracurricular activities played a large role in the student and the person I am today. Freshman year, I made the mistake of not becoming involved in the dozens of activities my high school offered. Sophomore year, I realized that it would look great on college applications if I showed that I was a well-rounded student and participated in clubs during my free time while maintaining a solid GPA.
I joined my first club at the beginning of sophomore year- Together Club. The first meeting, only three students showed up and I was one of them. The advisors talked about what they had done in the past to raise money for various organizations throughout the club’s years. I thought it would be amazing if the club could get itself up and running again to raise money for the Lupus Foundation. The following week, I rallied up some of my friends and brought them to the next meeting. With a bigger turnout, I was nominated to be the president of my very first after school activity in high school.
Being president was a huge responsibility. I invested so much of my free time in the club because it was something I wanted to be proud of. I wanted to make Together Club an organization that had handfuls of students wanting to join and become a part of something special. I created announcements and flyers to explain what the purpose of the club was. Our goal was to raise as much money as we could for the Lupus Foundation through events such as an unplugged concert (similar to the MTV show “Unplugged”), bake sales, movie marathons, scavenger hunts, etc. I had such big plans for this club, but unfortunately, most of my ideas were not put into action. Some members of the club, although they were good friends of mine, did not put the events or club meetings high up on their priority list. I felt like I was the only one who actually cared about what we were doing.
After a year of trying my hardest to recruit new hard-working members, I started to join other clubs in addition to Together Club to get a feel for their environment. I thought there might be something I was missing; I thought that maybe other clubs had a certain edge that I was not bringing to my meetings. I joined ASPCA Club, Cancer Awareness, Relay for Life and French Club over the remainder of my high school career. I noticed that the clubs I found the most interesting were the ones who centered around raising money for a meaningful cause; I loved giving back to the community. Joining various groups where I was doing community service gave me a sense of accomplishment and I felt like my hard work and time went towards something beneficial in my community or nation. I hope to continue giving back as I get older.
Joining extracurricular activities not only affected my outlook on life by giving back to others, but they also affected my schoolwork. Having activities to do after school forced me to budget my time, allowed me to become a better time manager, and pressured me to juggle the many tasks I was required to do (tasks that range from homework to after school activities to working as a nanny to studying for tests). At first, I thought joining clubs would make managing my time more difficult, but I actually found that it did just the opposite. I noticed that if I had something to do later on that day, I would become more productive and get assignments done earlier in the afternoon. As a result, my grades actually improved.
Becoming further involved within my high school was one of the best choices I made. I loved meeting people with similar interests as me and I loved giving back to those who needed it. Being involved in so many clubs allowed me to work on my multitasking skills and my time management, along with developing leadership skills from being the president of Together Club for two years. At the University of Rhode Island, I plan to join a few of the organizations the school has to offer and continue giving back to others.
I joined my first club at the beginning of sophomore year- Together Club. The first meeting, only three students showed up and I was one of them. The advisors talked about what they had done in the past to raise money for various organizations throughout the club’s years. I thought it would be amazing if the club could get itself up and running again to raise money for the Lupus Foundation. The following week, I rallied up some of my friends and brought them to the next meeting. With a bigger turnout, I was nominated to be the president of my very first after school activity in high school.
Being president was a huge responsibility. I invested so much of my free time in the club because it was something I wanted to be proud of. I wanted to make Together Club an organization that had handfuls of students wanting to join and become a part of something special. I created announcements and flyers to explain what the purpose of the club was. Our goal was to raise as much money as we could for the Lupus Foundation through events such as an unplugged concert (similar to the MTV show “Unplugged”), bake sales, movie marathons, scavenger hunts, etc. I had such big plans for this club, but unfortunately, most of my ideas were not put into action. Some members of the club, although they were good friends of mine, did not put the events or club meetings high up on their priority list. I felt like I was the only one who actually cared about what we were doing.
After a year of trying my hardest to recruit new hard-working members, I started to join other clubs in addition to Together Club to get a feel for their environment. I thought there might be something I was missing; I thought that maybe other clubs had a certain edge that I was not bringing to my meetings. I joined ASPCA Club, Cancer Awareness, Relay for Life and French Club over the remainder of my high school career. I noticed that the clubs I found the most interesting were the ones who centered around raising money for a meaningful cause; I loved giving back to the community. Joining various groups where I was doing community service gave me a sense of accomplishment and I felt like my hard work and time went towards something beneficial in my community or nation. I hope to continue giving back as I get older.
Joining extracurricular activities not only affected my outlook on life by giving back to others, but they also affected my schoolwork. Having activities to do after school forced me to budget my time, allowed me to become a better time manager, and pressured me to juggle the many tasks I was required to do (tasks that range from homework to after school activities to working as a nanny to studying for tests). At first, I thought joining clubs would make managing my time more difficult, but I actually found that it did just the opposite. I noticed that if I had something to do later on that day, I would become more productive and get assignments done earlier in the afternoon. As a result, my grades actually improved.
Becoming further involved within my high school was one of the best choices I made. I loved meeting people with similar interests as me and I loved giving back to those who needed it. Being involved in so many clubs allowed me to work on my multitasking skills and my time management, along with developing leadership skills from being the president of Together Club for two years. At the University of Rhode Island, I plan to join a few of the organizations the school has to offer and continue giving back to others.